Hui Rebellion in Gansu and Shaanxi 1862-1877
Throughout the 270 years of Qing dynasty history, the development of Hui people in Shaanxi province had been through a huge up and down process. At the beginning of Qing, the Hui population totaled about 845,000; it increased to 1,700,000 within 200 years. (Another source is from the Qing Government's population records and Zuo Zhongtang's written records which showed there were 13 million people including 4 million Muslims in Shanxi province prior to the revolt) But because of the Hui Rebellion in Gansu and Shaanxi during Tongzhi's reign, the total loss to the Shaanxi Hui people was as high as 1,550,000, the Hui population was reduced to 150,000 at the end of the war, over 91% of the Hui people vanished.
During the war, the loss to the Han Chinese population was much higher (the translation in the original Chinese textbook did not indicate a total number, however, Zuo Zhongtang estimated that 4 millions Muslims in Shanxi Province were wiped out - this is also hinted in Zuo ZhongTang's written record that he felt deeply sad and sorry that ethnic genocide occurred in Shanxi and that Muslim population suffered annihilation), but relatively speaking, because the percentage of Hui's population loss was so high(91%), the whole population was nearly wiped out, they were put near the edge of extinction[citation needed]. Before the war, many provinces had Hui people living quarters; none could be seen at the end of the war...Shaanxi province's ethnic composition was changed drastically (by the war)....in China's fourth National Census in the 1990s, there were only 132,000 Hui Chinese in Shaanxi province. End of translation. Original Chinese text is on the talk page.[36]